Showing posts with label Random Blue Sparks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random Blue Sparks. Show all posts

Saturday, August 23, 2025

Kokako, Number 43, September 2025

Grateful to have a lovely review of "Random Blue Sparks" by the editor, Graham Bates, included in this issue. It can be accessed under the book's title tab of this blog.


homelessness
the driftwood's hole
filled with a stone


rime ice
the spikes of burrs
grow longer


childhood days
spent digging for treasure
on the beach
you still wear the pendant
I made from pirate glass


the wind
strumming ocean waves
what music
do you have in store
for me tomorrow




Monday, August 11, 2025

Haiku Society of America, Merit Book Awards, 2025

Thrilled to have received 3rd Place in the Haiku Society of America Merit Book Awards for 2025 (for books published in 2024) for Random Blue Sparks (Snapshot Press, 2024)


My thanks to the judges! Commentary to follow:
 

#FemkuMag, Issue 39, Summer 2025

fogged in
a friend jumps off the bridge
to nowhere


bully culture
six coyotes surround
a mule deer


if we had one
to call our own . . .
star nursery


Note: this issue also includes a lovely review of Random Blue Sparks. It can be accessed under the Random Blue Sparks tab of this blog. My deepest thanks to Rowan Beckett Minor for the sensitive reading and commentary.
 

Friday, May 16, 2025

Seashores - An International Journal to Share the Spirit of Haiku, Vol. 14, April 2025

My thanks to guest editors K.J. Munro and Sherry Grant for selecting the following work:


coming rain
the frogs croak
louder


black sand beach
a chunk of ice
holds the sky


flagstone path
empty spaces softened
by moss


I'm beyond grateful to Tim Dwyer for his lovely review of Random Blue Sparks in this issue. The review can be accessed under the Random Blue Sparks tab of this blog.

Sunday, April 13, 2025

The Haiku Foundation: The Touchstone Award for Distinguished Books, 2024

I'm honoured that my haiku collection, Random Blue Sparks, was selected for the following honours. My thanks to the esteemed panel of judges, and to John Barlow of Snapshot Press!

April 3, 2025:


Thrilled to say that Random Blue Sparks was one of 76 books longlisted for the 2024 Haiku Foundation Touchstone Distinguished Books Award!


April 10, 2025:

Doubly thrilled to say that Random Blue Sparks was one of 18 books shortlisted for the 2024 Haiku Foundation Touchstone Distinguished Books Award!

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Random Blue Sparks, Snapshot Press, December 2024




Random Blue Sparks - a haiku collection released by Snapshot Press on December 30, 2024


Winner of the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Awards



I'm beyond honoured to announce that my book-length haiku collection, Random Blue Sparks, winner of the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Award, was published by the press on December 30, 2024. Thank you to John Barlow for selecting and sequencing these poems, and to Chuck Brickley for his valuable insights. I'm also grateful to Chuck Brickley, Ron Moss, and Tom Clausen for their generous blurbs. Special thanks to my husband, Larry, who is my first reader and second pair of eyes.


Praise for Random Blue Sparks:


'Debbie Strange's first full-length collection of haiku offers a stunning display of sensory artistry inspired by the landscapes and ecosystems of Western Canada. Random Blue Sparks is a wonderfully vibrant gathering of moments to savour.'

—Chuck Brickley
Author, earthshine


'From finely tuned observations of the tiniest life forms to quiet reverence for open landscapes of earth and sky, this brilliant collection is a timely reminder of the relevance of nature haiku in today's climate.'

—Ron C. Moss
Author, The Bone Carver


'Illuminating the essence of experiences and things, Random Blue Sparks is a compelling love letter to the prairies, mountains and waters of the western provinces of Canada. These indelible haiku brim with poetic joie de vivre.'

—Tom Clausen
Author, Growing Late


Haiku


stormlight
a pronghorn outruns
the rain


meadowlarks
the grace notes that follow
me home


weaving light
into this day of mourning . . .
damselflies


submerged log
the descending sizes
of painted turtles


weathered oars
we fold our worries
into the river


(note: this collection contains sixteen award-winning haiku)

Sunday, February 07, 2021

Snapshot Press Book Awards, 2020

I'm beyond honoured to announce that my full-length haiku manuscript, Random Blue Sparks, has received the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Award!

Random Blue Sparks - a haiku collection released by Snapshot Press on December 30, 2024


Winner of the 2020 Snapshot Press Book Awards



From Snapshot Press:

Snapshot Press is an independent publisher specializing in English-language haiku, tanka and other short poetry by authors from around the world.

Founded in 1997, our publications include anthologies, single-author collections, and annual editions of The Haiku Calendar. Our books have been honoured by the Haiku Society of America, The Poetry Society of America, and The Haiku Foundation.


From Michael Dylan Welch in Modern Haiku:

Snapshot Press sets the platinum standard for design and production values among haiku and tanka books. Their quality is unsurpassed. Indeed, books from Snapshot Press are always a tactile and poetic delight.